Friday, October 26, 2007

Dumpster #2...

NO ONE should have this much crap!

Did I tell you I had to get a second dumpster?
It is full.
Well, I'm going to cram a little more in it, but
I will have it taken away sometime in the coming week.

A lot of what is in this dumpster is from the
garage. I will spare you the ugly details.
Or not.

I had to take a break from the purging because
I started to feel surprisingly emotional when I looked
at some of the things I am throwing away.

There is yard and garden stuff like seriously out of date
flower seed packets, open bags of plant fertilizer, charcoal
for the grill, cheap (rusted) plant stands.
Not to mention rusty cans of paint, nuts, bolts, screws...
yard and house project items.

Not to mention boxes of mildewy books, fabrics and patterns
for quilts and teddy bears.

Eh... too much junk to list.

But, as these things made their way to the dumpster, never
to be seen again, I wondered about what I am doing.
It felt like I was throwing away dreams. Giving up.

Should I think of it that way?
Or, am I clearing a path for new dreams?

Maybe I'm just tired.
Maybe just a little discouraged from looking up....
there's still more crap in the rafters. Dammit!

I really, really do not want a third dumpster

24 comments:

Rantin' Ron said...

Hell, get a FOURTH dumpster if you need it Darlin'!

I love that line...

"Clearing a path for new dreams."

Damn you're good!

Best wishes as always

Scott from Oregon said...

Getting rid of stuff is truly liberating. Think of it that way.

Get the dumpster if you need it.

kdzu said...

I'm with Ron and Scott. Clear that path for the new Dreams. LOL

Jean said...

Thanks gentlemen.
It feels good to be making progress, but... the dumpster thing is getting expensive. I'm thinking that by now I could have BOUGHT one!!

Anonymous said...

Then you could be the first on your block to own your own dumpster. ...heh...

I am a packrat of the first order. Never dispose of anything. Even things that are broken. I tell self, "You can fix that. Put it up there on the shelf with the other 4,712 broken things you're gonna fix one day." But there is never time. That "one day" never arrives. When I croak, my heirs will need, not a couple of dumpsters, but a fleet of dump trucks to haul my dreams away. Oh, well...

none said...

It can be cathartic. I try to donate what unwanted items I can every few months but sometimes I just pile it up at the curb. It feels good. sometimes when we clear a space it clears the cobwebs out of our minds.

Joe said...

We are doing the same thing this weekend.

Anonymous said...

If I were to clear a path it would just be a path to allow me to get through all my junk...but I should do it, heh. You did make me smile though. This reminded me of a sweet old neighbor we called Old Man Jack. Sometimes I miss him so much it hurts. Anyway, when he died his kids rented a dumpster and discarded *everything* OMJ had. It was sad seeing them throwing out everything that meant something to him. Hey, when you're finished at your house ya wanna come here and clean my place? At least you'd throw out stuff; I'd just move it around!

Jean said...

Winston - We are left over from the generations that saved and fixed things... unlike the current 'disposable' mindset.
And, I have no heirs... just some siblings who probably couldn't care less what I have. Makes me sad.

Hammer - you're so right... this is for my mind and soul as much as anything else.

HB - good luck with that! At least there is more than one of you for the task.

Bonnie - it's a shame that people have such disregard for some of the things that meant so much to others.
heh... I'd feel guilty throwing out your stuff. Probably bring half of it home to add to my own... geez.

Anonymous said...

Jean, we did the same thing this summer with our garage.I'm working up to the kids' rooms and the spare room. The garage WAS cathartic. It was a toxic waste dump.
Definitely it enables you to acquire more newer stuff!

Joan of Argghh! said...

We moved from 3bd/2ba ranch home on 2/3 acres into a 1br apartment when we downsized. No "storage" facility either.

Now we're in a 2br condo w/garage and it's full all over again.

Don't kid yourself. This is America. Stuff just ...grows on trees or something. It gloms onto us.

I. Vadinoff said...

We all carry baggage... emotional, psychological, spiritual, and material. Most of the time, the thing that keeps the first three alive, are what we have of the last one... the materials things we see each and every day. Once we eliminate the material things, we have the opportunity to also let go of the emotional, psychological, and spiritual things that cloud our mind and our heart.

I agree... if there is a fourth or even a fifth required... get it.

Jean said...

Kim and Joan - well, I guess I'm not alone, am I? heh.

i. vad. - you make sense... onward!

Anonymous said...

... oh yeah.... what Vadinoff said... there is wisdom and truth there...

Eric

AspergantuS said...

You are actually performing a public service you know...
There is an entire culture out there that thrives on dumpster diving...

I'm just saying...

Desert Cat said...

I am an inveterate packrat.

A couple things I do to help clear space is 1) donations to Salvation Army. If it has value, even a little bit, and you hesitate to toss it, put it in a separate pile to be bagged/boxed up for a trip to a donation center. Or if there's enough stuff, they will come pick it up at your place.
2) e-Bay. This is more time consuming, but I have been able to sell true junk for it's salvage value. Example: I had a small power inverter that blew a component. I advertised it as an electronic project box with salvageable components, (clearly noted as non-working for it's original purpose). Sold it for $5 plus shipping.

The ability to donate stuff helps me clear what is for me a tremendous emotional hurdle to getting rid of stuff. It might also reduce your total dumpster volume.

curmudgeon said...

Dreams? Maybe.
More like getting rid of useless junk. Sorta like an ex, no? ;)

But two dumpsters? Good gawd woman. What sort of a pack-rat are you anyway?

Jean said...

Eric - he comes up with a good one once in a while :)

Mick - so, it's my civic duty... ok!

D.C. - I've made some donations... probably more to come.

Dave - heh... very much like an ex!
Don't forget, this was accumulated over 20 years... so, there!

Valerie - Still Riding Forward said...

I think I can get by with a couple trips to the dump with the little truck but only because I started last year getting rid of stuff.

Like a heart, if trash is taking up space there is no room for love...get it out of there!

Jean said...

Val - yes ma'am...couldn't agree with you more!

Doom said...

I suppose that is why I keep hoping for a housefire? Bother, it would be more of a pain, since things would not be sorted (as my ethics do not allow me to set the thing), so I would lose some precious items. Still, the thought crosses my mind. Did it cross yours?

I just haven't been able to take the initiative, yet, to clean out the dream room(s). I'm glad you were able to do so. Now that I have departed the crying room, if not completely 'all better', it is open should you care to attend to that particular need. But they ran out of tissues, so you might want to take in some of your own. smile*

Jean said...

Doom - oh, yes... many thoughts about the ease of a fire. But, I resist. Somewhere in my mind I know it would not help, so I will continue to plod along this way. I still have much to do.

I will stock up on tissues... enough for both of us :)

Doom said...

He Hey, at least I am in good company and not alone in my, if ill advised, fantasies of a quick solution. And, that's good on the tissues. As manly as I am, and, I AM, I am a great big blubbering bear at times. And yes, guys can get away with it just as easily as women. Well, if you stock up on tissue, I'll toss in a comfortable chair, pillow, and throw?

Seems to be the season for cloudy thoughts and teary cheeks. Next up, hibernation!

k said...

Jean, I'm just purely proud of you.

Of both of us. ;-)